Monday, June 21, 2010

Fennel Risotto with Feta Cheese

fennel-feta-risotto

Wow, I've posted a lot of sweet recipes lately. It's not that I haven't been cooking, but I guess I haven't tried a whole lot of new recipes. As always, risotto remains one of our favorite dishes. It's perfect for a weeknight dinner, as it takes about half an hour in total. It's great on its own, or as a side dish. This particular one is nice served along a spicy sausage (like chorizo or salsiccia), or grilled chicken.

Fennel Risotto with Feta Cheese
(printable recipe)

1 yellow onion
1 small-ish fennel bulb
200 ml arborio rice
50 ml dry sherry
1 litre good stock (any kind of vegetable would work well)
100 ml finely grated parmesan
75 g feta cheese
butter, olive oil

Finely chop onion and fennel. Heat a little butter and olive oil in a heavy pot, and fry the onion and fennel on medium heat for a few minutes. Add the rice, and turn up the heat to let it color until golden. Stir all the time - it burns easily. When the rice is golden, add the sherry and let it reduce for a minute.

Add the stock, ladle by ladle. When the risotto looks dry, add more. It'll take about 20 minutes in total - keep tasting to make sure the rice is just right. You might not need all the stock, or you might run out - just add hot water in that case.

When the rice is done - slightly chewy but not crunchy, and definitely not mushy - stir in the parmesan. Taste to see if you need to season it, and serve with crumbled feta cheese.

Recipe in Swedish:
Fänkålsrisotto med fetaost

8 comments:

Jeanne @ CookSister! said...

Mmmmm, I LOVE fennel risotto! And what dish is not improved by feta cheese! Delicious.

~~louise~~ said...

Fennel, Risotto AND Feta! OMG I'm in heaven.

I am always looking for recipes that include fennel. There just doesn't seem to ever be enough.

Thank you so much for sharing this recipe Anne. I LOVE it!!! Bookmarked!

BTW, We're playing an online Picnic Game on my blog. It sure would be nice if you could make it. Drop by for the info and bring that risotto of yours while you're at it:)

~~louise~~ said...

You're Invited Anne. I'm so hoping R is for Risotto!!! "See" you there. Wonderful!!!

Anne said...

Ha, I actually have something else in mind :)

~~louise~~ said...

I'm sure we will love anything you bring, Anne. I'm not sure I can wait much longer.

I will though:)

Kenon Thompson said...

Great use of fennel and feta cheese. It tastes delicious just from looking at it!

Anna T. said...

You don't use pepper? And I think you right!
Because the pepper in supermarket are so bad quality, no tasty and no fragrant. Now I adopted Kampot pepper since my trip in Cambodia and I think it will be delicious with your recipes.

Anne said...

I'm perfectly happy to use pepper from the grocery store, but I rarely have pepper in risotto. If I want some heat, I generally use chili paste.